Spotlight

An Eerie Invitation: Music and monsters at the Guemes Island General Store

Friday, October 20, 2017

There’s an eeriness to this night. Is it the clouds slowly creeping across the bright fall moon? Is it the wind that frantically whips the leaves around the empty streets only to stop suddenly, as if calmed by an unknown force? Is it that your kids have hardly argued with you all day?

It’s hard to say, but the chill running down your spine as you apply the finishing touches of makeup to complete your zombie pirate costume lets you know something’s brewing. You gather the kids…

Spotlight

Whatcom Symphony Orchestra: Making music come alive

Monday, October 2, 2017

When the members of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra tune their instruments and take the stage for their season-opening concert at 3pm Sun., Oct. 8 at the Mount Baker Theatre, it will signal both the start of the venerable arts organization’s 42nd season and its first under the leadership of new(ish) executive director, Gail Ridenour.

Ridenour has been at the helm of the WSO since January, but her connection to orchestral music and the particular kind of community that comes with it is…

Spotlight

Downtown Sounds: After the party

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

When last we left off with the hardworking crew from Downtown Bellingham Partnership, they were at the cusp of the first of the five weekly concerts that comprise Downtown Sounds, their perennially popular concert series that evokes literal dancing in the streets. Even though the nonprofit has been throwing this party for some 13 summers now, 2017 came with some factors that built in uncertainty that had not been felt since the series broke out of its alley home and took itself to the…

Spotlight

Viva Farms: Continuing the legacy of farming in Skagit Valley

Monday, July 17, 2017

As the executive director of Viva Farms, Michael Frazier is well aware that the Skagit County nonprofit where he’s worked since the end of the 2014 farming season has become a vital resource for those looking to make a living from the land. We caught up Frazier for more details about how the business incubator that debuted in 2009 is helping ensure the future is full of farmers.

Cascadia Weekly: Is it true that only 108,500 acres of Skagit County’s 1.1 million acres are farmed? Why is…

Spotlight

B-Town Kitchen & Raw Bar: The world is its oyster

That was in May, and since then the restaurant connected to Four Points by Sheraton Bellingham Hotel & Conference Center has continued to draw welcome attention to itself by offering some of the freshest seafood around, prepared in ways both traditional and contemporary.

“It’s seafood with a twist,” the hotel’s general manager, John Burns, said on a recent sunny afternoon from a booth at the newly…

Spotlight

NW Art Beat Studio Tour: Skagit Artists Together expand their vision

For ceramic sculptor Maria Wickwire, part of the joy of the artistic process is never knowing precisely what shape that narrative will take.

“Having always been attracted to figure sculpture and to story, I guess it was a natural progression to finding the deep vein of feminine archetypes I’ve been exploring since then,” Wickwire says of the alluring forms she’s been creating since falling for the malleable medium in her…

Spotlight

Downtown Sounds

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Most of us probably don’t spend a lot of time considering what goes in to making the ridiculously popular concert series Downtown Sounds happen.

For five weeks every summer, as if by magic, the 1300 block of Bay Street is closed to traffic, a stage goes up, bands begin to play and we throng there by the thousands to spend the evening dancing in the streets. At the end of each week’s show, we disperse, the temporary venue is dismantled and, by the next morning, it’s like the whole…

Spotlight

Element Music Festival

Monday, June 19, 2017

For music fans, deciding whether to attend a music festival involves a certain kind of calculus. On one side of the equation are must-see bands and musicians, combined with the allure of seeing them in one place, over the course of a weekend.

The other side of the equation, however, looks a little different.

That’s where the downsides of festival-going factor in, which can be everything from the challenges posed by navigating overly large crowds and sometimes inhospitable venues…

Spotlight

Fresh Bucks: Extending summer’s harvest at the Community Food Co-op

Friday, June 9, 2017

Asked to describe a typical workday as the outreach manager at the Community Food Co-op, Adrienne Renz’s face lights up as she describes a list of accomplishments that might leave a less energetic human exhausted.

She reports that the day before, in addition to leading a team meeting, she met with Sustainable Connections regarding a Whatcom Food Network forum, headed back to the office to discuss the Co-op’s upcoming Community Party, and then attended a school district wellness…

Spotlight

It’s a sunny Saturday in May, but the 40 cast members and assorted crew on hand at the dress rehearsal for Northwest Ballet Theater’s revival of Alice in Wonderland appear to be more focused on furthering the story of a young girl’s adventures down a rabbit hole than they are in enjoying the springtime weather.

As Alice—a 21-but-looks-15 dancer named Hailey Forsberg—cinches her blue dress and stretches in advance of Act I, a quick look around NBT’s cavernous Cornwall Avenue locale…

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3 OMS Yoga: A community sanctuary, hidden in plain sight

Friday, April 28, 2017

If you’re not looking for it, it’s possible to walk by the entrance to 3 OMS Yoga without being aware that you’ve done so.

But once the door leading to the Cornwall Avenue studio has been located—a clue is that it shares an address with Kids Northwest and Dragon River restaurant—those seeking better physical, mental and spiritual health will find a warm and welcoming spot in which to explore the ancient practice of yoga.

Spotlight

Spring Fling: A warmup to the Anacortes Arts Festival

Friday, March 24, 2017

Judging by the astounding array of events that take place during the Anacortes Arts Festival every August, it’s easy to believe claims by organizers that it takes more than 250 volunteers and as many as 2,000 work hours to put on the perennially popular three-day art party.

When I attended last summer’s soiree, I was struck not only by how much there was to do and see, but also by how smoothly the festival seemed to be running. As my date and I did everything from perusing indoor fine…